AMBASSADOR, BRAZIL'S FOREIGN MINISTER REVIEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 000531 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA MCMULLEN AND WHA/BSC E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2018 TAGS: PREL ECON SNAR EINV MARR SOCI SENV ENRG BO IR, BR SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR, BRAZIL'S FOREIGN MINISTER REVIEW BILATERAL ISSUES, BOLIVIA, IRAN REF: 2007 BRASILIA 1368 Classified By: AMBASSADOR CLIFFORD M. SOBEL, REASON 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. The Ambassador met with Minister for External Relations Celso Amorim on April 3 to review the state of play on several bilateral initiatives. Amorim agreed to help move forward the Tropical Forests Conservation Act (TFCA) debt swap and the counternarcotics letter of agreement (LOA). He indicated interest in extending from five to ten years the validity for business visas, a high priority item in the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum, and agreed that it was important to include high-impact non-governmental representatives in the bilateral working group being set up under the new joint action plan to fight racial discrimination. Amorim said that Defense Minister Nelson Jobim's trip appeared to have advanced cooperation in concrete ways, but complained that technology transfer issues were still a problem. The Ambassador raised US interest in both a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and a tax treaty, and informed Amorim that Brazil's request for approval for Santa Catarina state beef and pork exports is being reviewed in Washington. He raised his interest in seeing the U.S. remove the tariff on sugar cane-based ethanol, and said he would be happy to meet with Energy Secretary Bodman when he visits Brazil in May. Amorim told the Ambassador that, at Bolivia's request, he was planning to travel the next day to La Paz to see how Brazil could help mediate the conflict there; although he sees no easy answer, he believes both sides are amenable to outside help. Amorim and the Ambassador briefly discussed the Middle East peace process and, in a one-on-one at the end of the meeting, the Ambassador raised our concerns about Iran. Amorim said Brazil is not considering new investments in Iran and that no high-level visits are "imminent"--but they are possible. End summary. The Secretary's Travels -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador, joined by PolCouns (notetaker),met on April 3 for about fifty minutes with Foreign Minister Amorim. Amorim was joined by chief of staff Ambassador Maria Nazareth Azevedo, Counselor Ricardo Maschietto Ayrosa, who handles North America and Asia for Amorim, and North America 
Office Director Counselor Joao Tabajara. The Ambassador began by showing Amorim pictures from the Secretary's March 14 visit to Salvador, Bahia. Amorim was clearly pleased that she had taken him up on his suggestion, and that she had enjoyed the visit, saying, "It was a good decision on her part to go, and on my part not to go." ¶3. (C) The Ambassador asked Amorim for his views on developments in the Middle East. Amorim asked the Ambassador to pass along his congratulations to the Secretary for her most recent trip, noting that she had focused on humanitarian issues among the Palestinians, which the two had discussed during their March 13 meeting. Review of Bilateral Initiatives -------------- ¶4. (C) The Ambassador raised the following bilateral initiatives with Amorim: -- TFCA: The Ambassador told Amorim that Treasury had secured USD 30 million in funding, the largest program so far for a single country, but that we need to move quickly to conclude the agreement because the money must be obligated before the end of the fiscal year. Amorim said he was unaware of the TFCA, but agreed to look into it and asked Nazareth for a briefing. (NOTE: Reftel reports Treasury Secretary Paulson,s conversation with Amorim regarding the TFCA. End note.) -- Counternarcotics LOA: The Ambassador raised the LOA, noting that INL had responded to comments from Itamaraty (the Foreign Ministry) and that a working level meeting was planned for the following week with Virginia Toniatti, head of the Office to Coordinate the Fight Against Transnational Crimes (COCIT),to go over our responses. We were concerned, BRASILIA 00000531 002 OF 003 the Ambassador said, that Toniatti had indicated that Itamaraty had additional concerns, and hoped that we could finalize the LOA soon. Amorim agreed to look into it. -- Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial Discrimination: The Ambassador told Amorim that he had just met with the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB),which had expressed enthusiasm for helping implement the Joint Action Plan. The Ambassador indicated his interest in finding appropriate high-impact non-governmental representatives to serve on the working group that will be established under the Plan, and suggested that Itamaraty should be considering this, as well. When the Ambassador suggested that one idea would be to ask a member of the Congressional Black Caucus to be a member, Amorim agreed that congressional representation from both sides would be valuable, and indicated they would consider the issue. -- Extension of NIV Terms: The Ambassador noted that extension of the terms of NIVs was an issue being addressed in the bilateral CEO Forum. Amorim agreed, saying that the first step was to ensure that changes to the relevant legislation being drawn up by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) did nothing to prejudice that possibility. He asked Nazareth to get in touch with MOJ to make them aware of the issue. -- Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT): The Ambassador noted that there is a great deal of Brazilian and US private sector interest in a BIT. Amorim stated the problem had always been an appearance of discrimination against domestic companies, claiming the BIT gave foreign companies differential access to arbitration mechanisms outside the Brazilian court system. He thought he had read that the U.S. might be changing its model in a way that would make this less of an issue. The Ambassador agreed to get back to him on that (NOTE: Post confirmed with EB/OIA that no changes to the 2004 Model BIT are being considered, and will convey this to MRE officials). The Ambassador also asked if we could see the investment agreement Brazil was developing with Argentina, which would help us see what Brazil found acceptable. Amorim agreed to provide it. (Note: The Finanance Ministry (Fazenda) has told us they want to negotiate a BIT with Argentina, but it is still in the works. End note.) -- Bilateral Tax Treaty: The Ambassador told Amorim that he was going to be hosting a lunch April 10 with key business people and legislators to discuss possibilities for a bilateral tax treaty. He suggested that we could work together effectively to sway the Brazilian congress on the matter. Amorim was skeptical that Itamaraty could have much impact, asserting that Brazil's revenue agency (Receita Federal) continues to resist, and that in congress it was a question of economic philosophy, rather than practical issues, that was generating opposition. Amorim felt that the CEO Forum was the right group to work the issue, and that pressure from Brazilian multinationals would be important to make it happen. The Ambassador agreed to provide Itamaraty a readout from the lunch. -- Brazilian Beef Exports: In the wake of growing pressure from Brazilian producers for access to the U.S. market for Brazilian meat products, the Ambassador informed Amorim that Brazil's request for approval for Santa Catarina state beef and pork exports is being considered. Amorim was pleased to hear this, noting that it was a growing issue. -- Defense Cooperation: The Ambassador invited Amorim to fly with him onto the deck of the USS George Washington when it visits Brazil in late April for UNITAS exercises. He provided a brief readout of Defense Minister Jobim's trip, noting in particular the support Jobim had received for his idea of a South American Defense Council, and that we had agreed to establish a working group on technology transfer. Amorim said that he understood that a sale of troop transport vehicles looked likely. He noted that third-country transfer restrictions continued to be a sore spot, citing USG prohibition on sales of Tucanos to Venezuela. He conceded that, even had the sale gone forward, Venezuela would likely have bought Russian fighters. He added, however, that it made it impossible for Brazil to argue that Venezuela should not purchase the fighters. The inability of Brazil to sell BRASILIA 00000531 003 OF 003 the Tucanos highlighted to Venezuela the dependent relationship created by arms purchases from the United States. -- Biofuels and Bodman Visit: Amorim raised removal of the U.S. tariff on sugar cane-based ethanol as a priority for the GOB. The Ambassador noted that Energy Secretary Bodman was scheduled to come in mid-May, and Amorim said he would be pleased to meet with him, schedule permitting. -- Embassy Aircraft: Amorim and Nazareth indicated they were aware the ball was in their court in terms of approval for stationing a C-12 in Brazil. They indicated that a meeting would be held the following week between Itamaraty and Ministry of Defense officials to determine how to proceed, and committed to providing a readout immediately afterward. Brazil to Engage on Bolivia Problem -------------- ¶5. (C) The Ambassador asked about news reports that Brazil had agreed to help mediate between the Bolivian government and opposition. Amorim confirmed that the Bolivian government had asked Brazil to engage with a number of other countries, and said that he was planning to leave the next day for La Paz for an initial assessment of how Brazil could help. He said that he was pleased that the Argentine foreign minister and Colombian vice minister were there, and that they would meet separately after their respective trips to compare notes and explore ideas for moving forward. Amorim stressed that he saw no easy answers to the current crisis. Even if terms acceptable to both sides could be found, it would take months to reach an agreement. Despite press reports to the contrary, Amorim said the opposition seems open to Brazil's engagement and understands the potential for other countries to be helpful. Amorim acknowledged that there was some pressure to act, as the referendum planned for the end of May would certainly exacerbate the problems. Iran -------------- ¶6. (C) At the conclusion of the meeting, the Ambassador pulled Amorim aside to express our continuing concern about Iran, particularly as we move to implement the most recent UN sanctions. Amorim said that there would be no new Brazilian investment in Iran. The Ambassador added that there is concern about the appearance of high-level visits at this time, as well. Amorim bristled somewhat, insisting that Brazil considers itself a friend of both the United States and Iran. He suggested that, should the United States decide to engage Iran, countries like Brazil that had maintained friendly relations with Iran could prove useful. Nonetheless, he said, no high-level visits are "imminent"--but they are possible. SOBEL